


Nuclear Fusion

by MaxRev



Series: Shepard Appreciation 2017 [1]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Background Character Death, Gen, Mindoir, New Beginnings, Pain, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 21:22:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12920517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxRev/pseuds/MaxRev
Summary: A reflection; does Shepard ever think about their past?This was written for my femshep, Riley.





	Nuclear Fusion

**Author's Note:**

> These were all written for [ Shepard appreciation week ](https://itscommandershepard.tumblr.com/) for 2017 on Tumblr.

Sixteen years old, her family butchered before her eyes, Riley sat in a way station, forced to ponder her choices in a way she’d never foreseen. **  
**

Sitting against a wall, her knees were drawn up close, head using them as a prop. Thin arms covered in blood and scratches were wrapped so tightly around her legs, her knuckles were white. She looked more like a homeless waif then a girl who had grown up on a fully functioning farm. Her jeans were torn and dirty, sneakers covered in dirt, tinged with red.

The gangly teenager struggled to hold back tears. Bright red hair, matted with dried blood and dirt, hung down like a ragged curtain, a shield to keep her away from the outside world. A world that was in chaos, swirling around her like a storm.

At the moment, she wanted nothing to do with anyone. Memories that had once been so joyful now made her heart bleed with pain. And yet, she refused to push them aside in favor of numbness. Her family, her friends…they were all she’d ever had. How was she supposed to go on? What was she supposed to do with her life when her security, her support was gone?

A gentle hand on her knee startled her into looking up. Belatedly, she wiped the tears from her eyes, looking into kind brown eyes. Turning her face away once more, she didn’t want this Alliance soldier to see them or her pain. Never mind her blue eyes were red-rimmed and swollen or that the tears had made tracks through her grimy face.

There hadn’t been time yet to clean up. Not that she cared about that. Her mind could only focus on what she’d lost.

“I know this is the toughest thing you’ve ever been through, child. I’m sorry.”

The voice was warm, kind, welcoming. It made Riley want to cry even harder. He was being so nice to her. She was just trying to be tough. How did soldiers deal with seeing this kind of destruction, this loss of life day after day?

“What’s your name?”

Another voice spoke up, female this time. Riley glanced through her matted strings of hair. The woman was young, blonde and pretty, also a soldier. Both of the people before her wore Alliance military uniforms. Since arriving here, she’d heard orders being shouted, information being passed around, reporters shoving vid cams in the victim’s faces. Finding a tiny corner tucked away, she’d escaped all the turmoil, nobody noticing her…until now.

* * *

Riley sat on the observation deck, not really seeing the stars outside the glass, trying hard to grasp onto memories that insisted on pulling away. So much harder to hold onto as time passed by. She was the same age now her mother had been when she was born.

For so long, she’d held onto her memories of Mindoir, guarding them fiercely, unwilling to let the vestiges of time steal them away. But as she sat here in the dark, she realized the exact features of her mother and father were no longer distinct, the sound of their laughter fading as well. The smell of the fields on Mindoir in the summer had long since been forgotten as had the taste of lemonade on a hot day.

The only thing that stayed as strong as then was the wonder of their love for her. She could still remember so many nights laying on a blanket under the stars. Her father would point out the constellations, sharing his knowledge with a star struck daughter while her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The wonder of those stars and what they had meant to a young girl still existed.

Those pinpricks of light passed by her, the Normandy headed onto the next mission. Riley had never imagined then that she’d actually be among them herself. A bittersweet smile curved her lips upwards. David and Kahlee had literally saved her life, offered her a home when she had nowhere to go. 

Maybe, just maybe, her father and mother were even now looking down on her, smiling at the daughter who traveled the stars.


End file.
